Thank you for visiting our forum. As a guest, you have limited access to view some discussion and articles. By joining our free community, you will be able to view all discussions and articles, post your own topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload photos, participate in Pick'Em contests and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today!!

.
.THE LOWDOWN.
Winds of change are hitting the big money conference too. The Show Me State and the Lone Star State are now part of the Southeastern Conference footprint. Am I the only one that finds this wildly awkward? Probably so. Then again, who am I to complain? Not in this day and age of West Virginia in the Big 12, Notre Dame going to the ACC… or hell, we nearly had San Diego State and Boise State in the Big East. But I digress. The SEC tournament goes from 10 teams to 12 teams, which means that games that really shouldn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things will continue to rake in more cash. The other big change is in the South Carolina program where two-time national champion head coach Ray Tanner matriculates to the athletic directors’ chair and assistant Chad Holbrook takes the reigns. Elsewhere, there’s not much else that will change, the biggies in the conference will fight their way to Omaha and play for a national title and some of the middle of the pack will still be better than most conferences champions. (Okay, maybe there’s the occasional Stony Brook to throw a monkey wrench in the works, but you get my drift). I’ve personally got five SEC teams in my top 12, but that number could easily increase. Plus, the thing you have to love about the SEC is that preseason predictions really don’t mean jack-squat. Last year, Kentucky was coming off an 8-22 conference season and had very little returning for 2012. Then, they go and spend a large part of the season in the top 10 and nearly win the SEC East. So you see those predicted rankings above? Take them with a sizable grain of salt. I’m not saying you should disregard them, but the truth is if anyone puts their nose to the grindstone here and gets the right bounces, they can win the SEC… and the national title.

Quote:

- SOUTH CAROLINA (55-14, 22-8)
2012 ISR: 8
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (15+inns.): 6
.
All Conference Candidates:
OF Tanner English (.298, 12SBs)
SS Joey Pankake (.264-2-27)
3B L.B. Dantzler (.262-20-48)
RHP Colby Holes (7-2, 3.05, .226OBA)
LHP Jordan Montgomery (6-1, 3.62, .248OBA)
LHP Tyler Webb (6-1, 1.56, 39apps, 3svs, .211OBA)
LHP Nolan Belcher (4-2, 2.12, 2svs, .210OBA)
.
NOTES:
- For those of you thinking South Carolina will go the way of the buffalo because names like Roth, Price and Tanner are no longer in the program, well you’re dead drunk wrong. Sure, dynasties are built by difference-makers, guys who excel in the highest of pressure situations, but they’re also built on a very high talent level. And that’s one thing the Gamecocks still have mass amounts of, talent. Look at the recent recruiting classes. In fall of 2011, SoCar’s incoming haul was ranked at No. 1 in the country by Baseball America. Then last fall, they followed that up with a No. 6 national ranking. So don’t think you’ve got it easy there Mr. Naysayer. This program will still be around and still pile up Ws at significant times of the season.
- Chad Holbrook steps into the head honcho post to replace now-AD Ray Tanner. He’s a capable dude, knows his stuff and has the respect and attention of his players. As mentioned above, don’t expect a cliff-fall here. The ‘Cocks will survive. And yes, that means they’ll get over losing Michael Roth, Matt Price, Christian Walker, Evan Marzilli and Reptar the dead fish.
- There are a world of possibilities on the mound, just take a look at the opponents batting average on the four pitchers mentioned as All-SEC candidates above. Yep, losing Roth and Price won’t be as daunting as you think, there will still be plenty of arms to go around. Also, don’t forget that RHP Forrest Koumas (2-3, 4.82 and LHP Adam Westmoreland (2-1, 2.86) could also figure into the weekend rotation since they both made four starts each last season.
- SoCar pulled in the 10th-ranked recruiting class in the country, assuring their means to sustain for the immediate future. 1B Ryan Ripken is not only a great baseball name, but he’s got the goods to flash on the field too, having been drafted in the 20th round. SS Max Schrock, a 28th round draftee, will join alongside last year’s fab frosh like SS Joey Pankake, OF Tanner English and stellar backstop Grayson Greiner (.222-6-32) to continue their tradition of incredibly tough defenses.
.

Florida is better than 4th. Lost a ton of talent but have a ton as well. Our schedule is brutal. No free weekend in conference play. That's about where is put us. Interested to see if UK can build off of last year. I'm not so sure about them at 2. We have a lot of questions but we always seem to. I'm excited.